The djinamée — also djinamèë or djeunamèë — the Atjèhnese huwelijksgift (marriage gift) or bridewealth, is the marriage payment that, in the adatrecht of Atjeh, is made by the man to the woman (or, in Kreemer’s account, by the groom to the bride’s father) immediately after the marriage contract, and that has become a validity requirement (geldigheidsvereiste) of the marriage — so that, without the djinamée, the marriage is not validly concluded. The institution is cited by B. ter Haar BzN in Beginselen en Stelsel van het Adatrecht (first ed. 1939; 4th ed. 1950) as a typical example of a marriage payment that has the character of a huwelijksgift — distinguished from the bruidschat (bride-price) proper — and as an Atjehnese instance of the wider Indonesian (and Muslim) category of the marriage gift. Kreemer, writing in 1923, describes the djinamèë as a fusion of the Indonesian bridewealth (the purchase price paid to the father-owner) with the Mohammedan mahr (the gift to the bride herself).
The marriage gift distinguished from the bride-price
Ter Haar distinguishes, in his systematic account of Indonesian marriage payments, between the bruidschat (bride-price) — the payment that has the characteristic effect of transferring the woman and the children to the husband’s kin-group — and the huwelijksgift (marriage gift) — the payment made to the woman personally, which has become a validity requirement of the marriage without the transfer-effect of the bride-price. The djinamée of Atjeh is cited as a typical example of the latter category, alongside the soenrang of South Celebes and the Muslim mas kawin. “De djinamée van Atjeh,” Ter Haar writes, “de soenrang in Zuid-Celebes en de moslemse mas kawin” are “geldigheidsvereiste voor het huwelijk” (validity requirement for the marriage) — “al kan in Zuid-Celebes door het lenen van de soenrang (soenrang niinrang) de betaling fictief gemaakt worden” (although in South Celebes the payment can be made fictive by the lending of the soenrang).
The distinction is significant for the legal characterisation of the Atjehnese marriage. Where the bruidschat has the effect of transferring the woman and the children to the husband’s kin-group — the “losmakende kracht” (loosening force) that detaches the woman from her kin-group and attaches her to the husband’s — the huwelijksgift does not have this effect. The djinamée of Atjeh is thus, in Ter Haar’s account, a payment that validates the marriage without effecting the transfer of the woman; it is a payment to the woman personally, not for the woman to her kin-group.
Tariffs
The djinamèë was tariffed in boengkaj’s (units of value, each = 25 guilders):
- 1 boengkaj (ƒ25) — for the poor
- 2 boengkaj’s (ƒ50) — for the middle class
- 4 boengkaj’s (ƒ100) — for notables
- “1 kati gold” (20 boengkaj’s = ƒ500) — for princesses
The phrase “ihèë tahé sipeuha” (“three tail and one peuha”) is purely traditional/theoretical. The boengkaj was a unit of 25 guilders, also used as a gold weight (1 boengkaj = 16 manjam = 2 dollars weight ≈ 54 g).
The djinamée and the mas kawin
The djinamée of Atjeh is noted by Ter Haar as having “samengesmolten” (coalesced) with the Muslim mas kawin — the small payment (often five guilders) of the man to the woman that is the validity requirement of the Muslim marriage. “De huwelijksgift, mas kawin (mahr) is een kleine betaling (veelal vijf gulden) van den man aan de vrouw,” Ter Haar writes; “zij is soms samengesmolten met andere betalingen, op Java bijvoorbeeld met de toekon, op Zuid-Celebes met de soenrang, in Atjeh met de djinamée, en is dan ook een hoger bedrag.” The coalescence of the djinamée with the mas kawin in Atjeh is thus an instance of the wider Indonesian pattern by which the Muslim marriage gift is absorbed into, and identified with, a pre-existing or co-existing indigenous marriage payment — a pattern that gives the combined payment a higher amount than the nominal Muslim mas kawin alone. Kreemer makes the same point in stronger terms: the djinamèë is, in his account, a fusion of the Indonesian bridewealth with the Mohammedan mahr.
Djinamèë toeëng vs. djinamèë köh
Two types of bridewealth stipulation existed:
- Djinamèë toeëng — no restitution (per hoeköm, Islamic law)
- Djinamèë köh — half to be repaid (per adat, customary law)
This distinction affected the ha balèë (widow/widower’s right) and peunoelang (return gifts) calculations.
The djinamée as personal property of the wife
The djinamée, as a marriage gift made to the woman personally, remains — in Ter Haar’s account — the personal property of the wife. “Waar onder de huwelijksbetalingen voorkomt een huwelijksgift aan de vrouw,” Ter Haar writes, “zoals de djinamée in Atjeh, de hoko in de Minahasa en gelijk de soenrang in het grootste deel van Zuid-Celebes blijft dat goed of geld, evenals de mas kawin en de daarmee versmolten betalingen elders, aan de vrouw persoonlijk.” The djinamée thus does not enter the huwelijksboedel (marital community of goods) but remains the wife’s personal property — a rule that places the Atjehnese marriage gift within the wider Indonesian category of the barang asal (goods of origin), the goods that remain tied to the spouse’s family of origin rather than entering the marital community.
The seulangké
The seulangké was the Atjèhnese marriage broker/intermediary who formally conducted the marriage proposal. He received the “ha seulangké” of ƒ2 for each boengkaj of the bridewealth. The formal marriage proposal visit was called meuseuleungeuj (or peuköng narit).
The marriage contract
The marriage contract (peukawén / peunikah / peugatib / peutroïh hoeköm) was concluded by the teungkoe (village religious official). The wakilah formula authorised the teungkoe to act as uithuwelijker (marriage giver): “I authorize you, teungkoe, to marry my daughter N. to the groom who will come, for a bridewealth of three tail and one peuha.” The idjab (offer) and kaboel (acceptance) formulas followed.
Peungklèh and peutimang
The djinamèë was related to the peungklèh ceremony — the formal “setting up” (uitzetten) of the daughter independently, which ended the period during which the wife was maintained by her parents. The peutimang was the period before peungklèh when the wife was still maintained by her parents and the husband only brought biaja boeleuën (monthly cost money). The duration of peutimang depended on the bridewealth: one boengkaj per child born.
The return of a portion upon dissolution
Upon the dissolution of the marriage, Ter Haar notes, a portion of the djinamée is returned — a practice cited alongside similar practices in the Pasemah and Bali. “Het teruggeven van een gedeelte van het betaalde (bijvoorbeeld uit de Pasemah en Bali vermeld van een deel van den bruidschat, in Atjeh gebruikelijk bij de huwelijksgift, ook in de Minahasa en elders bekend)” — the return of a portion of the paid (for example, recorded in the Pasemah and Bali of a portion of the bride-price, in Atjeh customary for the marriage gift, also known in the Minahasa and elsewhere). The return of a portion of the djinamée is thus an Atjehnese instance of the wider Indonesian practice by which the return of a portion of the marriage payment upon dissolution maintains a certain, post-marital relation of the wife to her family of origin.
Significance
For AcehWiki, the djinamée is significant as the Atjehnese marriage gift — the payment that validates the Atjehnese marriage and that has coalesced with the Muslim mas kawin — and as a key example in Ter Haar’s systematic account of Indonesian marriage payments. The institution illustrates the interplay of adat and Islam in the Atjehnese marriage: the djinamée is an indigenous marriage gift that has absorbed the Muslim mas kawin, and it remains the wife’s personal property, distinct from the marital community of goods. Kreemer’s account, in turn, supplies the concrete tariffs (boengkaj units), the institutional apparatus (seulangké broker, wakilah formula, peungklèh ceremony), and the dual toeëng/köh regimes — the details of practice that complement the doctrinal-legal characterisation of the Atjehnese marriage gift within the colonial legal science of the late Netherlands Indies.
Account from Atjèh by J. Kreemer (Deel II)
Kreemer provides the following account of the djinamèë (also djeunamèë) in Atjèh.
The djinamèë was the Atjèhnese bridewealth / bride-price, paid by the groom to the bride’s father immediately after the marriage contract. It was a fusion of the Indonesian bridewealth (purchase price paid to the father-owner) with the Mohammedan mahr (gift to the bride herself).
Tariffs: The djinamèë was tariffed in boengkaj’s (units of value, each = 25 guilders): 1 boengkaj (ƒ25) for the poor; 2 boengkaj’s (ƒ50) for the middle class; 4 boengkaj’s (ƒ100) for notables; and “1 kati gold” (20 boengkaj’s = ƒ500) for princesses. The phrase “ihèë tahé sipeuha” (“three tail and one peuha”) is purely traditional/theoretical.
Djinamèë toeëng vs. djinamèë köh: Two types of bridewealth stipulation existed — djinamèë toeëng (no restitution, per hoeköm / Islamic law) and djinamèë köh (half to be repaid, per adat / customary law). This distinction affected the ha balèë (widow/widower’s right) and peunoelang (return gifts) calculations.
The seulangké: The seulangké was the Atjèhnese marriage broker/intermediary who formally conducted the marriage proposal. He received the “ha seulangké” of ƒ2 for each boengkaj of the bridewealth. The formal marriage proposal visit was called meuseuleungeuj (or peuköng narit).
Peungklèh and peutimang: The djinamèë was related to the peungklèh ceremony — the formal “setting up” (uitzetten) of the daughter independently. The peutimang was the period before peungklèh when the wife was still maintained by her parents and the husband only brought biaja boeleuën (monthly cost money). The duration of peutimang depended on the bridewealth: one boengkaj per child born.
See Also
- Beginselen en Stelsel van het Adatrecht (Ter Haar, 4th ed. 1950)
- B. ter Haar BzN
- adat
- Atjeh adatrecht (Ter Haar account)
- Wang pemasoeqan (Atjeh)
- Sanbod-aanname (idjaab kaboel) in Atjeh
- Peungklēh (Atjehnese trousseau)
- Boengkaj
- Seulangké
- Peutimang
- Ha balèë
- Poelang balèë
- Wakilah
- C. Snouck Hurgronje
- Snouck Hurgronje’s De Atjehers (1893-94)
- Hikum
- Acheh
- 1939
- 1950
Sources
Beginselen en Stelsel van het Adatrecht, door Mr. B. ter Haar Bzn. Vierde ongewijzigde druk. Groningen, Djakarta: J. B. Wolters, 1950. Pp. 168, 169, 171, 178, 192.
Atjèh. Algemeen samenvattend overzicht van land en volk van Atjèh en onderhoorigheden, door J. Kreemer, Archivaris van het Atjèh Instituut. Tweede Deel. Leiden: N.V. Boekhandel en Drukkerij voorheen E.J. Brill, 1923. Identifier: Delpher MMKB02B:000001798; PPN 395084288. Koninklijke Bibliotheek.